THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - SCHIZOPHRENIA
Darius Langhoff
Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych Wodzisław ŚląskiAbstract
E.A. Poe’s tale The Fall of the House of Usher features twins Roderick and Madeline who suffer from serious physical and nervous maladies. Manifestations of their mental disorders are juxtaposed in the article with the discoveries of modern psychiatry and neurology, revealing surprisingly many parallels with the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia and other related illnesses. The author of the story himself makes an impressive comparison between the characters’ split
minds and the cleft in their mansion’s wall, which disrupts the architectural harmony and continu- ity of the edifice.
Keywords:
modem psychiatric reinterpretation, schizophrenia, hypochondriasis, melancholia, architectural representation of a mental state and changeReferences
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Butler, W.D. (1972). Usher’s Hypochondriasis: Mental Alienation and Romantic Idealism in Poe’s Gothic Tales. Frankfort: University of Kentucky.
Conolly, J. (1830). An Inquiry Concerning the Indications of Insanity. London.
Fletcher, R. (1833). Sketches from the Case Book, to Illustrate the Influence of the Mind on the Body with the Treatment of Some of the More Important Brain & Nervous Disturbances Which Arise from this Influence. London.
Johnson, J. (1827). An Essay on Morbid Sensitivity of the Stomach and Bowels as the Proximate Cause, or Characteristic Condition of Indigestion, Nervous Irritability, Mental Despondency, etc., etc. London.
Kallmann, F.J. (1946). The Genetic Theory of Schizophrenia: An Analysis of 691 Twin Index Families. American Journal of Psychiatry 103.
Kreapelin, E. (1919). Dementia Praecox and Paraphrenia. Trans. R. Barcley. Edinburgh: E&S Livingstone.
Rush, B. (1812). Medical Inquiries and Observations Upon the Diseases of the Mind. Philadel- phia.
Spurzheim, J.G. (1817). Observations on Deranged Manifestations of Mind, or Insanity.
Langhoff, D. (2009). THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - SCHIZOPHRENIA. Acta Neophilologica, (XI), 119–127. Retrieved from https://czasopisma.uwm.edu.pl/index.php/an/article/view/1281
Darius Langhoff
Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych Wodzisław Śląski
Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych Wodzisław Śląski
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